Non-Renewable Resources Riley Pennington

What is a non-renewable resource? A non-renewable resource is whenever you use something and it does not regenerate in time, or even at all, to be used again. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you have to find something else for fuel.

Petroleum and Silver Petroleum is found underground, and is also typically known as fossil fuels. Its valuable liquids are found deep within the earth and are brought up by oil drills as crude oil. Petroleum is used for many things, such as oil, asphalt, gasoline, kerosene, and even butane. Because the things petroleum is used for is so vast, petroleum is very high in demand worldwide. Silver is also found within the ground in certain areas and is used for a wide variety of things, although probably not as important of things as petroleum is. Silver is used for things such as jewelry, silverware, mirrors, instruments, and more. Silver is very conductive. It transfers electricity better than copper, but silver tends to be more expensive than copper, so only silver-plating is sometimes used for home pipes and other wiring. Usually copper and brass are the main pipes. Silver is also good for coins and other currency.

Effects on Earth The use of petroleum is very bad to the environment, in a gaseous form it pollutes the air, and in a liquid form it can pollute the oceans and other waters if spilled during mining. Petroleum is getting more expensive as time goes on and it’s availability becomes more and more scarce, however it is still one of the cheapest and most reliable resources on the market for energy, therefore we continue to use it at a very high rate worldwide. Silver has a lot of common uses and a majority of silver comes from refined metals. Only a little bit of silver is actually mined from the earth. Typically, Silver is a rare element naturally. It does not really effect the environment, more so the people and animals in the environment have a chance of being affected. Liquid silver can lead to irritation of the skin and eyes, and silver at certain chemical points can be toxic to the lungs and the kidneys, so you must be careful. The only way that the environment is affected by this metal is probably the mining pollution of it. Silver is deep within the ground, only in certain parts of the world such as Canada and Honduras. Use of energy for silver: Silver is used for a conductor of electricity and heat because it works very well in this category, however it is expensive.

Dangers of Transportation Petroleum can be a very dangerous thing if not handled properly. On gas trucks there is always some sort of biohazard symbol or warning like these signs to tell you that the chemical the truck is carrying is hazardous. Petroleum gas is known to be very explosive and very flammable, so under the right conditions if a petroleum truck were to crash or go out of control, the spilling or impact of the crash could result in an explosion or fire. Not good at all! Although silver transportation is nearly not as dangerous as a gas transportation, there can still be hazards. However, there would only be a skin hazard if the silver were to melt, and it would have to be in a gas form to be toxic to the lungs. So frankly, silver is not that dangerous to transport.

Major Petroleum Accident: In 2010, the British Petroleum company encountered a very huge problem in one of their rigs. This rig was located in the Gulf of Mexico. Something happened to the oil rig known as Deepwater Horizon rig to trigger an explosion and bust open a pipe that was pumping oil from out of the ground. The damage was catastrophic. Apparently, the oil was flowing out at such an intense rate that they could not seal it until a lot of the oil ran out. Because of this, by the time they sealed the pipes, 210 million gallons of oil were lost and destroyed a lot of wildlife in the ocean. This is probably one of the biggest oil spills in recorded history, and is responsible for a lot of damage. Eleven people died in the explosion.

Silver Mining Accident There is not a lot of dangers that come in silver processing. The most dangerous thing about silver is probably the mining of silver. Miners are deep underground collecting the small bits of natural silver that there is within the earth. A recent mining accident in Idaho occurred, where a man was buried alive and trapped within the caved-in mine for nine days, and unfortunately didn’t survive. The mine is called Lucky Friday, and is one of the deepest mines in North America. It is also one of the highest producers of natural silver in the nation. Geological rock bursts occasionally occur and cause these cave-ins, resulting in very fatal injuries and/or deaths.

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